This invention relates to crisp, tasty, fried, formulated potato chip products prepared from a dough comprising dehydrated cooked potatoes and water, and to a process for making formulated potato chip products.
Conventional potato chips are prepared by deep fat frying thin slices of peeled raw potatoes. The raw potatoes must be stored in an unpeeled and unsliced condition until they are to be processed because the cut surfaces of the raw potatoes tend to darken as a result of the reaction of the enzymes in the potatoes with air. In addition, the potatoes must be stored under controlled temperature conditions so that they do not develop sprouts and so that the reducing sugar content can be maintained at a low level to prevent premature or excessive browning of the potatoes when they are deep fat fried. The chips which result from frying slices of raw potatoes can be quite variable since there is considerable variation between potatoes of different varieties in terms of their flavor, reducing sugar content, and potato solids content, each of which has an important effect on the flavor and appearance of the fried chips. Additionally, chips so prepared must be fried for from about 1 to about 3 minutes, a not inconsiderable time period, and the resulting chips have a rather high fat content of from about 35% to about 50%, by weight.
Heretofore it has been proposed to eliminate or minimize the foregoing handling problems and variations in the appearance of potato chips by making a homogeneous mixture of potato solids and water suitable for deep fat frying by either reducing the particle size of raw potatoes or by using dehydrated cooked potatoes to form a dough. These methods have generally included the addition to the dough of binder materials to form a supporting gel so that the product will maintain its shape during subsequent stages of processing. They have also required drying the homogeneous mixture to a low moisture level suitable for subsequent frying. For example, Markakis et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,258, granted Mar. 27, 1962, disclose a method of producing a synthetic, chip-type product from a mixture of precooked instant dried potatoes, dry vital gluten, gelatinized waxy maize, fat (in the form of shortening or oil), and chilled water. These ingredients are admixed to form a dough which is shaped and then fried. The dry vital gluten and gelatinized waxy maize, which are non-potato ingredients, comprise over 50% of the dry component of the dough and the resulting product thus has less of the desirable potato flavor than it would if the dry component was based on substantially 100% potatoes. The dough formed has a moisture content of between 30%-100% of the dry ingredients, by weight. After being cut into pieces of the desired shape for frying, the cut pieces are dried to reduce their moisture content to below 15%, presumably to allow the cut pieces to maintain their shape during frying. The drying step requires additional equipment, thereby increasing the processing cost.
Similarly, Backinger et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,020, granted Apr. 9. 1963, teach a method of making a french fried potato product by using dehydrated cooked mashed potatoes which have been rehydrated. A necessary ingredient of the composition is methyl cellulose, which is added to the potato-water mixture to bind the potato solids together during deep fat frying. It has been deemed desirable to eliminate the need for non-potato binder ingredients to provide a formulated potato chip based substantially completely on potatoes.
In addition to the patents discussed above, British Patent 608,996 also discloses the use of binders in connection with mixtures of dehydrated cooked potatoes and water. The teachings of that patent are general in nature and apparently do not provide a product that closely resembles conventional potato chips in appearance, texture, flavor, and eating quality.